"Everything is possible in Africa!" (Zanzibar Day 2)

From Rama! 

Today we went to Jozani National Forest, the Rock Restaurant, and a seaweed farm. We went to these places in order to get a better understanding of entrepreneurship in Zanzibar, and how that entrepreneurship relates to one’s culture and natural surroundings. We learned more about the relationship between preserving nature and increasing community wealth by talking with our tour guides in Jozani National Forest, and while on the bus. At the Rock Restaurant we not only ate a delicious lunch, but we also walked a quarter mile on the coral in one of Zanzibar’s most beautiful beaches. After our lunch at the Rock Restaurant we went to the seaweed center and learned how the seaweed mamas farm seaweed, and how they then use that seaweed to make great natural products that can be sold for profit.  

                  I found the trip to the seaweed farm extremely powerful. The seaweed center tells a very important story because 3 men started it 10 years ago to help tip the balance of financial power towards the women who were actually harvesting the seaweed (instead of watching all of the profit go to people who sold the products made from the seaweed).  Now, 10 women are in charge of growing and harvesting many species of seaweed (which we all ate today) as well as planning, producing, and marketing all natural products in their beautiful and sustainable center.   I found this to be extremely empowering because both men and women worked together to improve each other’s lives without enforcing “traditional” gender roles.  We gave two of the mamas a ride back to Stone Town from Page (pronounced pah-gay), and on the bus, even though they wore veils and a fairly quiet, they were laughing with us and listening to music.  They told us how music in Zanzibar always has a positive message.  Everyone here is positive and welcoming.   The center really made an impression on me because it showed me the difference in the cultural definitions of success. The most important thing I retained from the seaweed mamas and their coworkers was that success does not have to be individual and I can only grow as an individual if I have the support of my community. 

The seaweed center offered Mikala a job--she walked through every step of the process, even stamping a bar of soap :)

a cell phone shot by Savita of our most recent class, which we enjoyed  by candlelight on the shores of the Indian Ocean.  Emmett did a terrific job leading a class about the resistance consciousness of enslaved Shirazi in the 19th century.  

The article mirrors Rama's point almost exactly...community matters!